


Calling on a Whim

by YayaPear



Series: De Causa Erotis Duplicis [1]
Category: The Knick (TV)
Genre: Addiction, Bisexuality, Blood, Closeted Character, Doctors & Physicians, Fondling, Hospital, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Nurses, Sexual Content, Sexual Relationship, workplace affair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 16:17:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16122203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YayaPear/pseuds/YayaPear
Summary: Thack has been calling Bertie to work on early mornings for quite a while and Bertie, much to his father's dismay, always comes. To put it into simple terms, Thack is the perfect motivation for Bertie. But if we were to delve deeper we would find out that things can not always be put into simple terms.It is another early morning and the telephone rings yet again...





	Calling on a Whim

Ever since Bertie got his first call from Thack on that early Monday morning his father had been half joking, half nagging about moving the phone to Bertie’s room, so it doesn’t wake the whole residence up when Thack decides to call him on a whim.

“It is not on a whim.” Bertie remarks as he straightens his collar. He spares a quick glance towards his father, who is standing in the doorframe, scowling.

“What ever you call it then. You are not a dog, Bertram. You should respect yourself enough to not go running to him whenever he whistles, especially if it is your day off.”

“You always advised me to listen to my mentors, father, because it is the path to greatness. Besides-“ he interrupts when he sees his father taking a breath to, probably, say that John Thackery is everything but the embodiment of a mentor, “great things happen every time I join him. True medicine. He wants me to witness it and to be part of it. And I don’t see why I should not participate.”  He says and tightens the belt on the back of his waistcoat so it sits more snugly against his torso. He likes it more that way. Perhaps his gaze lingered a bit more on his image in the mirror, or he’s left his hands on his waist for too long, relishing the tight feeling. His father notices.

“If I knew you wanted a corset I would have one made for you.” He mocks and Bertie, caught red handed, lets go immediately. He feels like being defensive, but he knows better.

“There is no need, I shall borrow some from my sister.”

“Bertram…” He warns, but there is a tinge of exasperation. Bertie walks to him, now fully clothed.

“Please, father, go back to bed. I’ll be back home in the evening.” He says sincerely, hoping that his father listens. And indeed he does, but not without ‘I should have a word about this with Thackery’ grumbled as he walks up the stairs. Bertie lets out a breath of relief, not taking his father’s threat seriously. Most of the time his threats are just like the growls of a toothless dog, no true harm behind them. He collects his briefcase, heads to the hall where he takes his coat, hat, puts on his shoes and without breakfast he heads out to the street and towards the Knickerbocker.

The morning is cold, dollops of thin snow rim the pavement and the sky is dark like ink, sun not even close to coming up. Bertie’s stomach is tight with anticipation and even in the cold his palms sweat so much that his briefcase threatens to fall out of his grip. He makes it tighter and reminds himself to focus on what he is about to do, not on what comes after, even though that is exactly what makes his blood boil.

Every time they are done for the day, Thack takes him home. And…

Oh well…

It makes his head spin. He bites his cheek to stop himself from smiling, even though there is no one on the street to see him. All of a sudden he is very well aware of the way his shirt rubs against his skin under all the layers of formal clothes and how constricted his chest feels. Truly, he doesn’t know how he will be able to work in a state like this, but he will have to. Thack only indulges him if he behaves. And that is what he intends to do.

* * *

 

 

Thack is in his dimly lit study, sleeves rolled up and looking into the microscope with papers scattered all around him. Bertie sees quite a few vials of blood, glass slides, drippers and other fragile instruments. Thack had mentioned they would be studying blood. He looks up from his work and when he sees Bertie he springs up from the chair with such vigor it catches Bertie off guard. Thack is in the mood again and seeing him like that, tireless, energetic and passionate makes Bertie smile.

“Bertie the Wise! Please, do put your things down, there is no need to sit just scurry over here and take a look.” He hastily helps Bertie take off his coat and hat and puts them on a chair. Before Bertie has a chance to sit behind the microscope Thack takes a seat himself and guides Bertie by his hips to sit on his knees. Bertie has no time to be taken aback, Thack demands his full attention immediately.

“These are some of the blood samples I had collected and in them I hope to find the reason why we are still unable to transfuse blood. At first I thought the problem lays in the blood’s coagulability, since that is the initial problem but then I had been corrected by doctor Edwards’s brilliant insight and realized that coagulability also changes if the patient suffers from some illness or not. So I began to hypothesize, we need something different, something that cannot be changed, that is constant in the blood and that could divide us into groups of people with blood similar enough to transfuse. What could it be, Bertie the Wise? What comes to your mind?”

“I…um”

“Go on, take a look through the eye piece.” Bertie carefully leans forward, balancing himself enough to see clearly even though he is being bounced on Thack’s ever so shifty legs. He sees red blood cells, transparent with a greenish distortion around them. He gently adjusts the field of vision, looking through the sample and observing.

“Now another one.” Thack changes slides and Bertie is faced with another sample, but frankly, it looks exactly the same. Thack’s fingers are drumming on his hips, kneading them from time to time. If he wants Bertie to think clearly, he will have to stop soon.

“I don’t see much of a difference, but I think the constant could be for example…some morphological feature? Like…shape or size of the cells?” At least that is what he deduced from Thack’s excitement and the fact that he triumphantly showed him samples under microscope, so the difference should be observable. The answer is Thack squeezing his hips.

“Exactly! I do believe that the root of this rotten riddle is in the size of the cells. In some samples there were more cells with 7.5 micrometers in diameter, in others were less. Now we only need to determine how much exactly is the ‘more and less’ and how many groups there are. And then, Bertie…” he pauses, enjoying his fantasies, “Together we’ll solve one of the biggest mysteries of modern medicine. Think of the lives it could save, how time will no longer be of essence during surgeries if we can replenish patient’s blood any time we need him to hold on just little longer.” Bertie enjoys that thought as well.

“Won’t that be wonderful.” He hums and turns to look Thackery in the face. The fact that they are so close to a breakthrough fills him with all kinds of emotions and Thack lets Bertie act out on them, he allows Bertie to kiss him, deeply, letting him enjoy the sparks behind his eyes and the lightheadedness that always comes in moments like these. But when Bertie softly lays his hands onto Thack’s sides he pushes him away and looks him deeply into the eyes.

“There will be time for this, Bertie. Now we need to work.” Bertie ducks his head slightly.

“Of course.” He says, not quite reassuringly. “What do you need me to do?” Thack shakes his legs with more strength and Bertie takes it as a cue to stand up. He pulls his chair closer to the table and grabs a pen, already preparing to work.

“I need you to take blood from everyone on the ward, patients and also the nurses. Then we shall start counting the cells and writing down our findings. You’ll find more vials there, number them and then write the same numbers on a sheet, and next to them the sex, age and diagnosis of the patient from whom you’ve taken the blood. And add a bit of citrate so it doesn’t coagulate.” Then he turns away from Bertie and focuses on what he sees in the microscope. He tries to adjust the illuminating mirror but his hands are too shaky, so Bertie helps him and then takes off to the ward with a bunch of vials clinking on the wooden stand. It’s been a long time since he had taken someone’s blood and he hopes he will do well. Usually nurses do such work, and he could task them with it, but he feels such an assignment this early in the morning would make them grouchy. Bertie, on the other hand, is more than willing to do it.

He walks through the empty halls, around the reception and up the stairs towards the surgical ward, walking as quietly as possible, not to rouse patients from their sleep until completely necessary. After passing nurse’s longue he prepares his instruments, finds a sheet of paper and starts working methodically, always turning on a small lamp above patient’s bed, waking them up gently and explaining them the matter quietly. Hardly anyone protests. There are twenty three patients on the men’s ward and about fifteen on the women’s, he has quite a lot of work to do. Almost every patient then asks him for something, some for a glass of water, others, who can’t move very well ask him to fix their pillow or help them turn on the side. It reminds him of the times when he was still in medical school, practicing in nursing, before knowing if he would graduate, what kind of doctor he would end up being, even before knowing of doctor Thackery. It seems like it was such a long time ago. Bertie hears footsteps behind him, but he doesn’t turn around, not until he is finished with the patient.

“Doctor Bertie! What are you doing here?” Comes a whispered question. Bertie looks and sees nurse Pell standing in the doorway, quizzical. Apparently, she is working the night shift.

“Doctor Thackery asked me to take blood from everyone on the ward.”She walks closer to him.

“What for? Can’t it wait until the morning?” Bertie turns to her with a smile.

“You know him, it really cannot wait.” Pell looks exasperated, but understanding.

“Ah, of course. Let me help you, then.” Bertie is thankful. He explains her the details and they get to work, now faster than before. They don’t speak much, since they are on the opposite ends of the ward, but once they are finished Bertie shyly explains that Thack asked him to take blood from the nurses as well. Pell raises her eyebrows, instinctively touching her arm where the needle usually goes.

“That is a very strange request.”

“I believe there is a good reason behind it.”

“Who are we to dispute it?” She sighs and Bertie is struck with a bit of guilt.

“Well, it is your blood. You all have the right do decline.” She waves a hand at him.

“And then get nagging from Thackery? No thank you. But the others might have something else to say, we’ll see.” She says and then leads Bertie to the nurse’s longue. There are three more girls, sitting around and talking quietly. They all look up when they enter and Bertie feels like he is trespassing. Nurses don’t usually visit doctor’s offices and he feels the same way towards their longue. Fortunately, nurse Pell explains what he came to do, so all he has to do is stand by the door and wait for them to voluntarily come to him with rolled up sleeve, what they all do.

“And what exactly do you need it for?” Asks the one from whom Bertie is currently taking blood.

“Doctor Thackery believes we are on the verge of finding out the way we could transfuse blood. All we need now are as many samples as possible to verify our theory.” He says with a proud smile. The nurse looks at her watch.

“This early in the morning? How long have you been here?” Bertie releases the tourniquet and takes out the needle.

“Oh, I came in not long ago. It is doctor Thackery who does all the hard work, closed off in his study for days and then when he is just a little step from the solution he calls me in.” He hands nurse a piece of gauze and she pushes it against the small puncture.

“Seems to me like you are the one doing the hard work,” she smirks, “I wonder what you get in return for a service like this.”

The vial of blood nearly slips from Bertie’s hands.

“I…excuse me?” He stutters, looking at her with wide eyes.

“Oh nothing, I wouldn’t be here at this ungodly hour at all if I didn’t get paid for it, is what I meant. I guess the excitement of a breakthrough is what keeps you going, doctor Bertie.”

“Agatha, you can be such a blabbermouth at times. It looks like you have taken too much blood from her, doctor Bertie, she is not making any sense.” Steps in nurse Pell sharply, other two nurses smirking. Bertie is just relieved nurse Agatha wasn’t asking about anything particular. For a split second he thought that somehow she knew. He wills himself to calm down and smiles politely at her.

“No matter. To be honest, it is what keeps me going, also the notion of helping people not just one by one, but many at the same time with a discovery like this. Working with doctor Thackery is tiring and demanding, yes…but also very rewarding.”

“So we’ve heard.” Nurse Agatha says with a cheeky smile and Bertie looks at her with eyebrows raised.

“You have?”

“Of course. Lucy won’t stop talking about him.” Nurse Pell gives her a pointed look for spilling secrets like that to a doctor, about whom almost everyone from the staff knows that he has feelings for her.

“She mentions him from time to time, is what he wanted to say.” She corrects and Bertie nods.

“Well, she is not wrong,” he says, “anyway, I think it is time for me to go. I wish you a pleasant rest of your shift.” He takes the stands with vials and filled out papers and walks out of the longue with a polite nod. As he walks down the hallway his mind wanders off to Lucy. He still feels infatuated when it comes to her. He didn’t lie to his father when he told him about intending to marry her, the thought of it is appealing as ever. But recent…developments…have left him a bit clueless when it comes to what he wants. Just until recently he had mistaken his attraction towards men for simple admiration. He recalls how often he wondered if Everett’s hair is coarse from brillantine or softer than it looks, how he always gets distracted by the way how Thack’s hands work, cut, tie and cauterize and even before, still in medical school he remembers being fascinated by some details on other students. Gestures, the way they blinked, smiled, moved. In conclusion, he adores men and women by the same merit. He can’t help it. In the future he would like to have a wife and a family but now, the things he does with Thack simply feel too good. And when it comes to Lucy…he is quite sure she has lost interest in him when they went to Eden Musée together, sat on the bench and suddenly they were talking about what it is like to work with doctor Thackery. Bertie caught himself in time, pretending to look for words but Lucy stole them right from his mouth. ‘Intoxicating’ she said, Bertie agreed and she understood perfectly. They didn’t speak of that matter again. Interestingly, later that day they received a previa case which they, finally, treated.

And then Thack took him home for the first time.

Bertie smiles upon the memories and opens the door to the study. Thack looks up and nods contently when he sees a handful of samples.

“How much are there?”

“Forty two.”

“Good, good. We can make it forty four if we want to.”

“Sure.” Bertie says and rolls up his sleeve.

* * *

 

 

The next couple of hours are filled with the tedious task of counting cells in a fixated sample and measuring their diameter. Bertie would love to have as much energy as Thack has, he loses his focus very quickly and sees the cells everywhere, even when he’s not looking into the eyepiece.

“Perhaps next time we could focus on making a machine that would count them for us.” Bertie remarks but Thack just grumbles, so he goes back to work. The study is silent, the only sounds being the scratches of pens against the paper. Slowly the sun starts to rise, bringing in a bit more light. The streets get noisier and they hear many footsteps around them as the shifts in Knickerbocker hospital change. Bertie’s eyes feel tired. He takes breaks more frequently, carries papers over to Thack or observes how tirelessly he is working. It is truly amazing. He wonders if Thack was born with such energy or it is something he learned during his practice with doctor Christiansen.

When he is finished with the last sample he brings the papers over to Thack, puts them on a top of the stack and sits on the floor, relying on Thack’s chair. A hand comes from above him and caresses his hair and then falls down onto the back of his neck, stroking him there. Bertie closes his eyes and simply enjoys the feeling.

“It will be seven soon. Won’t they be looking for you?” Bertie asks.

“I put Edwards in charge of all operations. He’ll handle it.”

“I don’t doubt that. I shall help you with the calculations.” Bertie stands up and takes half of the stack, a pen and begins to count.

* * *

 

 

“Bertie, give me the numbers.” Bertie shuffles with the papers, looking for the results.

“Come on, come on, the numbers.” Thack calls impatiently. Bertie’s hands shake.

“Right, just a second uhh…right. Seventy five, sixty, forty two, twenty five and eighteen percent.” There is a pause. Thack mouths the numbers while looking at his results and then finally raises his gaze to meet Bertie’s.

“Same here.” He says with an incredible expression, holding eye contact with Bertie and gradually smiling more and more. He begins to slowly walk towards Bertie.

“Bertie…Little bird…do you know what this means?”Bertie swallows.

“It means we did it?” He whispers and Thack grabs him by the head, behind his ears.

“Yes, yes! We did it! We finally cracked it!” He pulls him close and kisses him hard. Bertie closes his eyes and tries to hold back a whimper, but a small one escapes anyway. Thack’s hand leaves his head and pulls Bertie closer by the lapels of his waistcoat, he feels the heat of his body, his heart quickly picking up the pace. He fists his hands into Thack’s shirt, lightly scratching and teasing the skin under. Thack shivers a bit and moves his mouth to Bertie’s neck.

“P-Perhaps we should test if hemolysis really doesn’t occur within these groups.” Bertie stutters and Thack stops biting his neck for a second.

“At a later time, yes,” he says against his skin and then raises his face to look Bertie in the eyes, “but I’m certain this is it.” He finishes and grins in satisfaction upon seeing Bertie’s wide eyes a red cheeks. Thack bites his lower lip and goes for another kiss. He sweeps Bertie off the ground, Bertie yelps, and Thack sets him on the table. He leans closer to him, this time going for his ear.

“I could have you right here, on this very table.” He purrs and spreads Bertie’s legs apart, touching his inner thighs. Bertie feels tingling everywhere Thack touches him, his clothes are becoming more and more straining, mostly his trousers. The idea of Thack taking him here is deliciously scandalizing.

“W-what if someone walks in on us?” Bertie peeps.

“What if indeed.” Thack grins and his hands go higher to tease Bertie’s chest.

“Thack!”

“The door is over there, we are out of plain sight. If someone walks in we’ll have enough time to make it look like nothing is happening.” He drags his nails down Bertie’s pectorals and he leans his head back, exposing his neck entirely and when he least expects it Thack grabs him behind the knees and pulls him towards the edge of the table, rubbing their crotches together. Bertie isn’t aware of the sounds he’s making until he feels a hand on his mouth.

“You’ll have to be quiet the entire time. It will be hard for you, you love being noisy.” Bertie moans into Thack’s hand and crosses his legs behind Thack’s back, bringing him even closer, feeling how stiff Thack is between his legs. This is it. This is perfect. This is what he’s been looking forward to. Thack’s hand finds a way to the front of Bertie’s trousers and he squeezes, earning a high pitched moan form him.

“Shhh, quiet. Or someone will hear how much you like it.” Bertie grabs Thack’s hand and tears it away from his mouth.

“Find another way to silence me, then.” He hisses and brings Thack’s face down to a deep kiss. Thack leans over him and begins to slowly grind against Bertie, thinking of how good it will feel when he is finally inside. It draws more noises from Bertie, high pitched and full of pleasure. He loves feeling this way, pinned tightly under a stronger man, being teased until he can’t take it anymore, until he pleads. He feels wicked, ashamed, but he loves it. He feels Thack’s hand going down and undoing both of their trousers. Expecting that Thack would take them both into his hand, Bertie finds himself quite surprised when he feels Thack sliding past his perineum and then… he brings his thighs together as much as he can.

“H- hold on.” Thack looks up.

“What is it?” He says, but doesn’t back away. Bertie wiggles slightly.

“I didn’t think…that you’d want to…uh…do it like this. In here.” He says quietly. Thack squeezes his hips.

“I thought I had made my intentions clear…” He says, but without malice or reproach. Bertie caresses the front of his shirt.

“I’d rather be doing this at your place…or maybe stay and I could, uhm…” Bertie licks his lips, Thack understands but shakes his head. He leans closer and towards Bertie’s ear.

“No, I’d like to go here.” He purrs and emphasizes it by a slow thrust against Berite, who closes his eyes and at that moment he wants Thack to go there too. Thack gently bites his earlobe.

“Let’s get going then.” He whispers and pulls away, tucking himself back into his trousers. It takes a while for Bertie to catch up with what is going on, but then he hops off the table and begins to fix himself up as well.

“I’ll go hail a carriage. Don’t let me wait too long.” Thack says with a kiss and a fair squeeze between Bertie’s legs. It makes him see stars.

* * *

 

 

The ride home is quiet and full of tension. Bertie is thankful for his thick coat, since he can’t seem to calm himself down he can at least hide his arousal. Thack’s hand is on his knee, his thumb stroking the inner side, sending pleasant shivers through Bertie’s body. Their eyes meet occasionally, Thack winks and Berie smiles shyly. Thack then decides to torment him even more by scooting closer, leaning to his ear and describing what he would do to him when they get home, his hand going higher and higher. Bertie is left between letting his arousal consume him, losing himself in the fantasies and constantly checking if the charioteer isn’t listening, or if there isn’t anyone looking at them from the street. He feels so revealed, so out in the open but at the same time camouflaged into the background of New York. Dozens of carriages go past him and he never bothers to spare more than a quick glance, so why would other people? Maybe they wouldn’t even notice them kissing. He wonders how much they could do without anyone noticing while his mind is being pleasantly dulled by Thack’s words, sincerely hoping Thack will do every single thing he now promises to do. He feels himself getting hotter and breathing faster, now barely containing himself. Thanks to Thack he cannot wait until the carriage stops, and when it does Thack unusually quickly pays the charioteer and they get off. They walk towards the front door, Thack unlocks it.

“Please, Bertie, come inside.” He says nonchalantly. Bertie looks him in the eyes.

“I hope you will as well.” He says with a wink. Thack would blush upon such talk coming from Bertie, but his blood is already somewhere else, so he just puts his hand on the small of Bertie’s back and leads him inside his house.

**Author's Note:**

> Because when there is no bisexual Bertie, you write it yourself!  
> Maybe I'll add some more chapters, perhaps more explicit, I have so many ideas!
> 
> I appreciate comments and kudos very much, they always make my day ^_^


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